Ch.631Chapter 24. Real Estate Never Die (9)☆

Korea’s number one hero is the Lord of Radiant Wings.

And number two is Baek Seol-hee.

What’s the difference between these two?

What is the ultimate difference that separates number one from number two?

If the Lord of Radiant Wings could be described as “someone who knew but could restrain himself,” then Baek Seol-hee could be described as “someone who couldn’t restrain herself because she didn’t know.”

Baek Seol-hee knew nothing about what was happening behind the scenes.

She might have known something was going on, but she had no idea how it specifically worked.

Not knowing isn’t a crime.

But when someone with considerable influence remains ignorant their entire life, that’s something to consider.

That’s what I worried about.

That like Ymir, Baek Seol-hee might “turn dark” the more she learned.

The purer the hero, the greater the possibility they’ll become a demon if they suffer a severe psychological shock.

Everyone watching from the sidelines must have thought the same thing.

That if she made one wrong move, she might become something like the “Demon of the Ice Age.”

So I approached Baek Seol-hee cautiously and, just as I had done with Ymir, slowly revealed the darkness of this world, this country, one page at a time.

“The truth behind everything? No matter what it is, I’m going to face it head-on now.”

And now, Baek Seol-hee has developed the mental strength to face such truths without falling into darkness as an ice witch.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know you were suffering while facing all this directly. Though it’s not much of a compensation, from now on…”

“There’s no need to apologize.”

As soon as Baek Seol-hee slightly bowed her head, Seong Ji-eun reached forward and grabbed her shoulders.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. The bad ones are the government officials who committed wrongdoings and Haeguneul who rode along to suck money. Well, I made some mistakes too.”

“Mistakes…?”

“Yes. Think about it. No matter how immature I was acting, or how frivolous they thought I was being, I was still an S-class hero. So why did they eliminate me?”

“……”

Questions begin to swirl in Baek Seol-hee’s eyes.

Seong Ji-eun glanced at me nervously, and I nodded in response.

‘Baek Seol-hee can handle it.’

Why did this country eliminate Seong Ji-eun?

And what was the reason for subsequently eliminating S-class heroes one after another?

“It’s because three conditions were met.”

“Three?”

“Yes. The first one is… the transfer of skills.”

One thing.

If I were to make an excuse for them, their mistake was being too kind.

They were so innocent and kind that if someone approached them claiming to be a friend and begged to borrow 5 million won, they would lend it without proper documentation, believing it would be repaid.

The four executives were also such good people back then.

They had no idea how people with malicious intent would treat them, and they naively trusted them.

They believed humans were good.

Never dreaming that others were devising ways and means to eliminate them.

“What about the apartments? They kept going up even after Seong Ji-eun died, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then did those apartments go up using the same construction methods as before?”

“…No?”

Even after Seong Ji-eun’s death, apartments continued to rise with ‘ability power.’

Although construction costs increased due to the shock caused by Seong Ji-eun, buildings continued to rise with ability power even after her death.

“This ‘earth magic’ I’m referring to—I taught it to other people. My ability.”

“What…?”

“And they went to Haeguneul Construction or the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. You’re thinking ‘why did you teach them such a thing,’ right?”

“……”

Seong Ji-eun pointed out the question that had just flowed through Baek Seol-hee’s mind.

“You’re right. If I could go back to before I died, I would have slapped that woman first. How dare she casually reveal my ability. Everything they said was sweet talk, trying to create a replacement for me.”

“They judged that five or six obedient A-class slaves would be more helpful to the apartment construction market than one disobedient S-class hero.”

The way those in power manipulate people is always the same.

They told Seong Ji-eun, “If you teach your skills to juniors, we’ll make sure you don’t have to go around building apartments,” and Seong Ji-eun taught her ability to her juniors.

Not knowing those juniors had secretly contracted with the government and Haeguneul, she sincerely thought they were “heroes” who genuinely wanted to learn her ability, and taught them with all her heart and soul.

“That’s exactly… like people who fall victim to scammers…”

“Being a hero doesn’t mean you can’t be deceived.”

“Right. It’s the scammer who’s wrong, not the person who gets scammed.”

If there was any fault, it was believing in people too much and viewing the world too positively.

“I was taught that people are born good, you know? But after I died, I realized something—humans are born evil. They’re born with a demon inside them.”

“……”

“…Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”

When Baek Seol-hee unconsciously placed her hand on her stomach, Seong Ji-eun hurriedly waved her hands to deny her own words.

“I just meant that people with such evil hearts tricked me. Anyway, that’s how the first condition was met. Taking my ability. And the second…”

“As an S-class ability user, is there value in eliminating them as an S-class hero?”

“That’s right.”

“……”

Baek Seol-hee’s expression began to deteriorate indescribably.

“No matter how much the government and economic circles dislike you, they can’t easily touch you if you have public opinion behind you. Yes, popularity as a hero.”

“But did I even have time to be active as a hero? All the credit went to the Lord of Radiant Wings and Snow White.”

“That’s…”

“It’s not wrong to have worked hard for the citizens and peace. They probably set it up that way from the beginning. And…”

Seong Ji-eun pointed at Baek Seol-hee and herself.

“Since they already had the Lord of Radiant Wings and Snow White, they concluded, ‘We can do without this one.’ That’s the second condition.”

S-class heroes are abundant anyway.

Although there are only eight S-class heroes in this country in the year 25, we must consider that officially, at least 50 S-class heroes have died, gone into exile, or disappeared as villains.

And as time went on, the government and Haeguneul adopted an “all-in on the Lord of Radiant Wings” strategy…

But they never expected that the Lord of Radiant Wings would become one with a demon.

And they couldn’t have imagined that four dead S-class heroes would resurrect as virgin ghosts riding on a goblin.

But that’s how it was then.

They thought that even without Seong Ji-eun, South Korea wouldn’t lose its title as the world’s number one ability nation, and they thought it was okay to “thin out” the ranks a bit.

“They wanted to keep only ability users like Baek Seol-hee who would ‘eventually have children according to the pregnancy warrant even if issued one.'”

“Ugh…”

“In that sense, I actually think quite highly of what you did in Jeju Island.”

Seong Ji-eun manipulated her Syndicate watch to play a video carefully preserved by The Syndicate.

“Put it down…!”

Baek Seol-hee immediately covered the video of herself holding her head high at the press conference, and Seong Ji-eun giggled softly as she covered her Syndicate watch with her hand.

“Look at this. The reporters are so flustered. Everyone watching this video must have been completely shocked. That’s when I realized. To really give these bastards what they deserve, you have to go this far. I just chose the wrong method.”

Seong Ji-eun glanced at me.

“If I had someone like Goblin beside me back then, someone who could advise me or help me make such choices, I wouldn’t have done something so foolish.”

“…Ah.”

Baek Seol-hee spoke as if she had noticed something.

“Could it be…”

“That’s right. In the end, I ‘made a choice.'”

Although the situation drove her to it, she ultimately made her own decision.

“You’ve heard the rumors, right? They’re true.”

“You… tried to defect to Hawaii…”

“It’s true. At that time, America approached me.”

When America wasn’t yet The Syndicate’s America.

When Seong Ji-eun was being bombarded by the state, the media, and public opinion.

“Will you defect and become a hero of our country? I ended up answering ‘OK’ to that question. Well, I was under a lot of mental pressure, and I couldn’t consult with that woman who called herself the big sister…”

“Then—”

“I thought there was no use talking to you about it. You know, right? At that time, you and I were… almost at the end.”

“……”

A woman who moved zealously to eradicate villains, dedicating 24 hours of her time for the peace of the citizens.

A woman who had spent all her time for the Korean peninsula’s real estate economy but now wanted time for herself.

They simply didn’t understand each other.

“Well, so that’s in the past now. I chose to defect, and ended up giving them justification. Justification for this country to discard me.”

The moment she chose defection, her final bastion, “Hwan’s Will,” probably chose to abandon her.

“That’s how this country was. The government has changed, but the opposition party is still alive, and Haeguneul’s people are now being dealt with one by one. But the history of what happened doesn’t disappear. Baek Seol-hee. Can you really handle it?”

“Of course.”

Baek Seol-hee reached out with both hands and grasped Seong Ji-eun’s hands.

“When we find those people, I’ll create an ice prison they can never escape from.”

“Without killing them?”

“I think they should suffer until they die, repenting for their sins.”

“…You really haven’t changed. Well, that’s why this man…”

Seong Ji-eun looked at Baek Seol-hee and me with a resigned expression.

“Alright. Then, Baek Seol-hee, I allowed you to be called here because you have that level of determination.”

With a meaningful look, she briefly scanned behind Baek Seol-hee.

“Seol-hee.”

“Yes?”

“I’m a bit scared to do this alone, so will you do it with me?”

“Do what?”

“The most treasonous act possible on the Korean peninsula. Betraying the country.”

“……”

At Seong Ji-eun’s proposal, Baek Seol-hee turned her eyes to me.

“I’m not misunderstanding this, am I?”

“Hmm.”

I simply arranged Seong Ji-eun’s hair with my hand.

“What you’re thinking, that’s correct.”

The golden strands flowing through her dark brown hair.